You can be compensated when a doctor harms you intentionally – your options are just more limited.
Everyone is bound to make mistakes, including doctors. In some cases, a healthcare professional’s error can lead to severe injuries for a patient, resulting in lengthy medical malpractice claims, with the victim seeking compensation.
In Florida, the combined medical malpractice claim award was $299.46 million in 2018. People were able to recover money for their suffering and losses thanks to a Lakewood Ranch medical malpractice lawyer or a lawyer from their particular area in Florida.
But what happens when you’re injured by a doctor, yet the injury is intentional? You might feel betrayed if you go to a doctor you trusted only for them to harm you on purpose. Do you have a medical malpractice claim if this happens?
What Happens When a Doctor Hurts a Patient Intentionally?
Let’s say you’re in the hospital being treated for a condition or undergoing surgery. You realize that you’ve been injured during the process, but not as a mistake. The professional intended to cause you harm.
Now, you have to spend your time in the hospital being treated for the injury. You might even need to undergo surgery to fix the problem – at least as long as the damage is not irreversible.
When a healthcare professional injures a patient, the first thing that comes to the victim’s mind is “medical malpractice”. These claims have helped people receive compensation many times, so it’s normal to consider a case like this.
Whether the doctor injures you intentionally or he or she made a medical error, the result is still the same – you’ve been harmed. You still have to spend more money on getting extra treatment or surgery to repair the damage.
But can you sue your doctor for medical malpractice if the injury was intentional?
Doctors are usually required to have medical malpractice insurance. As such, when a patient is injured due to the medical professional being careless, the patient can receive compensation from the insurance company covering the doctor.
The insurance is not applicable in all cases, though. It only comes into play if the harm was done by accident or if the healthcare provider was negligent. So, when negligence or a mistake causes the injury, you can file a medical malpractice claim against the doctor. In this situation, you have a high chance of getting compensation. If you win the case, the doctor’s insurance company will pay you for medical expenses, as well as legal ones related to the trial.
The insurance terms are violated if the doctor causes intentional harm. This means coverage from the insurance company is unavailable in these cases. The company will surely deny any coverage. The healthcare professional usually has to pay compensation from his or her personal assets, but these situations are not common.
Difficulties Finding a Lawyer and Getting Compensation
Following the injury, you will most likely want to look for a good lawyer to help you get compensation. However, you might find yourself in a situation where no attorney wants to consider your case. They will all refuse you, and you might not understand why.
There is a reason why attorneys often refuse to take such cases. When it comes to a doctor’s personal policy, there is always a paragraph that talks about intentional injury acts. It specifically says that when a doctor intentionally harms a patient, no amount of coverage will be awarded.
So, a lawyer will consider this case a waste of time considering there is no possibility of getting money due to the policy – even if the jury rules in the victim’s favor. Attorneys want to do the job properly. So, it would not be satisfying to win a case yet be unable to bring any compensation.
What Are Your Options?
When your injury was intentional and you cannot be compensated due to the doctor’s injury policy, you might be awarded compensation from the doctor’s assets. Sometimes, this is not enough. The professional might not have enough assets to cover the full compensation amount.
Luckily, there are a few things that could help you recover the money. You might get part of the doctor’s monthly income until the full compensation amount is reached. And if the doctor goes to jail, then you have to wait until they return to work to start recovering the money.
In any case, you can be compensated when a doctor harms you intentionally – your options are just more limited.
Final Thoughts
Medical malpractice claims will not help you get compensation when a doctor injures you intentionally. But if you can prove the act was intentional, you may be compensated from the doctor’s personal assets instead.
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